Dive Into Peril

By: Phoenix Ride

Ch.1: Beneath The Ice

"Ah man what a night," said Duke, stretching his arms out with yawn " Shoulder is still a little sore from tonight's game. Those blockers really did a number to keep us away from the goal."

It was night time in Anaheim, and under The Pond, everything was at peace. Most of who managed to escape Phil's publicity speech at the end of the game retired to their rooms early, while the rest of them were stuck up on the ice, posing for the cameras and signing pictures.

"Remind me why he's our agent again?" Wildwing asked Duke while they were still on the ice.

"Because the burger joint ran out of cheese," responded Duke, receiving a slight laugh from Tanya and Grin who also managed to stuck up on the ice.

Nosedive and Mallory were only ones absent to the press. The lucky fowls had managed to make their way downstairs before Phil went into full-blown manager mode, having the time to take off their gear early and get to bed.

Duke only hoped they left enough hot water down there. Nosedive had a habit of singing while he bathed, and when he took a shower the water was always hot. Duke usually found himself standing outside the door for an hour or two, before the young fowl finished his rock concert and he was allowed to step inside.

By then the water was freezing cold, and it was uncomfortable sleeping off the chill for the rest of the night.

"At least the water was somewhat warm tonight," thought Duke, as he silently strolled the halls back to his room.

Wildwing, Tanya, and Grin were probably already in bed. Duke needed to catch up if he was going to snag a few Z's before sunrise himself.

Deciding to take a shortcut down the hall that passed by Dive and Mallory's rooms, Duke headed over to his chambers, but stopped short suddenly when the sounds of a faint moaning suddenly caught his ears.

"What?" the older duck thought to himself, trying to trace the noise.

No one was standing in the hallway to cause that, and he knew he wasn't doing it, so it had to be coming from one of the rooms. Duke leaned over near Mallory's door and could instantly tell not a soul was inside.

Dive's door however was a different story. Not only was the sound of the moaning stronger, but a tiny thread of light could be seen under the door too.

Using his vast experience as an expert thief, Duke shadowed his way up to the door, making sure his feet stayed out of the light, and listened in close with his safe-cracking ear. The moans soon became crystal clear words to his ears.

"Oh Mal" whispered out Dive's voice " I wish that every night could be like this,"

"Me to Dive" said Mallory, her voice sounding soft " It's rare that we get a day off from fighting Dragonus, but Phil can be just as much of pain."

"Yeah" said Nosedive " I wonder how the others felt about us leaving them to suffer through his publicity stunts?"

"They'd probably like to wring our necks" said Mallory " I know I would."

"See?" said Nosedive " It's that demeanor that made me get lost in your eyes."

"You are definitely my kind of man," said Mallory, and the passion was rewarded with a kiss.

Duke stepped back from the door stunned, still not sure if he could believe what he just heard. Mallory and Nosedive were an item? Since when? Mallory treated Nosedive more like an annoying little brother anytime else he had seen them in the Pond.

"How long had they've been keeping this a secret for?" thought Duke " Did it just recently start? No, it sounded longer than that."

Whatever time period you looked into, the likelihood of the match was still strange. On this night, Duke knew that he had stumbled across something big. A secret that could shatter the whole Pond, especially if Wildwing found out.

"Should I tell Wildwing?" thought Duke for a moment, and then quickly denied the thought "Nah, it's better if I let the lovebirds do that themselves. 'Till then, we'll see how tomorrow goes,"

With that decision, Duke turned to walk back up the hall and take a longer way back to his room. No sense to make the younger couple suspicious of the old adage; the walls have ears.